BY the age of 24 most top gymnasts have long since hung up their leotard but retirement is far from Beth Tweddle’s thoughts.

The City of Liverpool star admits her stunning triumph in the floor event at the recent World Championships in London’s 02 Arena has strengthened her resolve to push on towards London 2012.

An Olympic medal is the only major accolade to elude her during a remarkable career and if she could complete the set at home in three years time it would be the perfect farewell.

Tweddle intends to review her progress on a yearly basis but having just enjoyed the finest victory of her career plans to start a degree in physiotherapy have been put on hold.

“I never dreamt I could win gold in the floor and it’s the best feeling in the world,” she said.

“I’m taking each step as it comes but I’d love to be there in 2012 competing for Team GB.

“To compete in an Olympics is the best feeling ever and for it to be in your own country would be even better.

“As long as I’m still producing the results, I’m happy and my body is still going then I’ll continue.

“I’ve got the Europeans at the NIA in Birmingham next April and then the Worlds in Rotterdam. I’ll definitely be up for that.

“I’m hoping my best is yet to come and hopefully my best result will come at the Olympics.”

When the Olympics come to London Tweddle will be 27 but she insists age will be no barrier to her hopes of a place on the rostrum.

“Can a 27-year-old win an Olympic medal? Definitely,” she insisted.

“Oksana Chusovitina won silver for Germany in the vault at the Olympics last year and she was a 32-year-old with a child.

“If she can do that, then why can’t I win a medal at 27?”

Tweddle endured a rollercoaster of emotions at the Worlds.

A fall on the uneven bars meant she failed to make the final of her specialist discipline but she shrugged off that setback to produce an extraordinary display on the floor.

“It was a really up and down week for me,” she said.

“After coming off the bars I just took myself off to my room and did my own thing. The following day my coach said we wouldn’t be training that day.

“I didn’t set foot in the gym and instead I went off shopping in Oxford Street. It was mainly to keep me away from people as if I had gone back in the gym everyone would have been asking me if I was okay and it would have just kept bringing it up.

“My coach (Amanda Kirby) just wanted me to put it all behind me and forget about it so I had the day off and then watched Dan Keatings in the evening.

“His silver medal really spurred me on to perform well in the floor final.”

Tweddle was first on and to the delight of the home fans she nailed her routine.

But after gaining a score of 14.650 she faced an anxious wait to see if any of her rivals could better it.

“The crowd at the O2 were absolutely amazing,” she said. “I could feel a real buzz and their backing really boosted me.

“If anyone had asked me when I came off whether I wanted to go back out there and have another go at doing it I’d have said ‘no thanks’.

“There are always a couple of things you feel you could have done better but as a whole I was really pleased with it.

“The wait after I had been on was more nerve-wracking than actually performing my routine.

“The scoring had been a lot different and I didn’t know what to expect. The score I achieved was a lot lower than the score I achieved winning the European title so when it first came up I didn’t think that would be enough.

“When every score came up I was just hiding behind my jacket, hoping mine was still the best. When I realised I’d won gold it was amazing.”

Tweddle won gold on the bars at the Worlds in Denmark in 2006 but she admits this victory surpassed that.

“When I won that gold three years ago it was the best moment of my career but this is even better,” she said.

“Firstly because it was in front of a home crowd and secondly because the bars is my signature piece and the floor isn’t. To win on the floor was a special bonus.”

An endless stream of media interviews followed with TV crews from across the globe desperate to grab a few words with the world champion.

“It’s been a really hectic time,” she said.

“I had to do drugs testing and media stuff until about 10pm on the night I won it and then more media stuff started again at 5am the next day.

“I did NBC in America and I did a live interview on Brazilian TV.

“There have been so many requests and thankfully my agent sorted everything out. I stayed down in London for a few days to get a lot of it done.

“There’s been so much interest and it’s great to see GB gymnastics being put on the map.

“I finally got the chance to celebrate with my friends in Liverpool last Friday night.”

Tweddle is now enjoying a well earned holiday in Cyprus but when she returns she faces going under the surgeon’s knife to sort out bone spurs in her ankle.

However, she won’t be out of action for long and will soon be back dedicating 35 hours per week to her training at Park Road sports centre.

“The problem with my ankle is nothing major and it wasn’t causing me any trouble at the Worlds,” she said.

“I’ve had X-rays and I’m just waiting to find out whether they need to be taken out.

“I’ve got two major championships next year and I need to make sure I’m 100% fit. I might as well use this time now to get everything sorted.”